What are we Going to do?
by cutiexxpie
Summary: Suna and Kanoha are 2 rival villages. Princess Haruno Sakura ges a crazy idea to join the army to find her lost friend during the war. It just so happens she is captured and the king deals with her directly. Old rivalries are reborn and new love blossoms
1. Chapter 1

The it Girl

She wanted to run, run far away from all of the things she was thinking, more like feeling. She didn't want to see him she wasn't allowed to see him. They were never even supposed to know each others face. But they did and they felt. He knew what she was thinking and as much as he wanted to think the same things he couldn't. As much as he wanted to hate her he couldn't. Her eyes bore into his and he couldn't stop the obvious attraction he was feeling.  
>"What are we going to do?"<p>

* * *

><p>Princess Haruno Sakura, the poster girl of peace in the kingdom of Konoha, literally. Every remotely high tower had a banner of her beautiful face and gorgeous body. The girl had been sadly over exposed to the public ever since a rivalry with the neighbouring kingdom Suna emerged. Every poster had one single characteristic in common: a large leaf that the princess would be coyly trying to conceal. And her clothing in these posters showed a little too much leg or cleavage. Teen boys ogled at the banners and the teen girls rolled their eyes but secretly wanted to have her body and confidence.<p>

Inside a large castle alive with servants bustling around preparing for the party of the evening, Princess Sakura was dangerously draped along the length of the highest windowsill. She caught herself staring at her largest banner and inwardly scolded herself. She didn't like how egotistic she could be at times. She hated it so much she worked to hide it for as long as she could remember, but her efforts were ruined since her vanity was obvious in each poster that was embarrassingly over sized. She didn't even know why the council bothered with all the commercial peace; they were going to officially declare war with Suna tonight so why waste time? That's what Sakura thought. She once tried to point out that fact only to be humiliated by a bunch of men that were supposed to be working beneath her.

She sighed out loud and watched as she saw the high tower of the Suna kingdom. She couldn't help but, feel an unnatural hatred towards the barely visible human looking through that tower. She had a pretty good idea of who it was. If all the gossip was correct that man was the king of Suna - Sabaku no Gaara. She didn't know him too well and they only met once but she was far too young then to remember now. So, all she knew about him were from rumours and gossip among her ladies in waiting. She heard that he had a very powerful presence that made all the women swoon, but he never dared let any of them get close to him. So, it was a shock to everyone when Ino, Sakura's closest friend, declared she was marrying him. Sakura's first reaction was betrayal and fury. When she demanded to know the reason behind Ino's abrupt departure she was faced with a rampage from her seemingly best friend:

_"You were always the pretty one always the one who got everything she wanted. And you strut around this castle like you're the queen of the world and everyone else are like your little toys and once you're bored you throw them out. You may think all the boys want you, but then why am I the one moving to Suna to live with the man that intends to marry me and you're stuck alone with no one to love you. You had your shot you know, with Sasuke, but no he didn't adore you enough! What was the reason you rejected him, again? Oh right because he was always away! He is one of the best ANBU ever to fight for kanoha!"_

_"Oh shut up Ino you have no idea what you're talking about! It's not like I have a choice with how I'm dressed it's Kanoha's way of showing off to Suna! And what the fuck do you think you've been doing this whole time! Throwing yourself at any boy I even the slightest bit of interest in just to prove that you're more loved. And you were just jealous that he never noticed you when we were together! I loved him with all my heart I wanted to be with him, but I felt those glares you sent me and the hateful words. I saw you try and fail at seducing him time and time again. The only reason I called off our relationship was for you! And now seeing you're true colours I regret the whole thing and I wish I could tell him, but no he left the kingdom, because of the immense pressure you were crushing him with! Looking back at it all, the one thing I don't regret was being completely honest with the reason why I was dumping him. I poured my heart out to him revealing the hurtful things you did. So, if you were ever wondering why he was so cold towards you, you got your answer!" Sakura shouted._

_"Where do you get off doing that to me? You knew I had dated him the previous year, you knew we had history!" Ino had said with rage. Sakura remembered how angry that had made her._

_"You didn't have history! He hated you for your drama queen behaviour and how you were all over him as if he was your property! We bonded over him telling me everything that was wrong with you as a girlfriend. He had told you countless times to cut it out and you wouldn't listen. He loved me because I gave him space and I let him come to me more than I pounced on him. So, you go around thinking that I blew him off because he didn't spoil me enough, but we both know it was because of your jealousy. He told all his friends too you know, I had no control over that and I still feel sorry for how they treat you sometimes," Sakura had admitted._

_"You don't feel sorry you little bitch! Don't think for one second that I actually believe my Sasuke would do that to me! He loved me and he was just using you like he was using all those other girls to get me jealous!" Ina had shouted in Sakura's face._

_"What other girls Ino? He was barely in Konoha and when he was we stayed together the whole time and talked. He told me all the stories of his missions and he promised that one day he'd take me away with him. Girls were always gushing to me on how much he loved to talk about me at the ANBU headquarters and practically the whole kingdom respected our love except for you! So does that sound like him using me to you? Sure as hell doesn't sound like that to me!" Sakura had been furious when she heard Ino said that, she was almost positive she had a mental problem._

_"You won't win this, Sakura, ever since we were little girls I always won against you and that isn't going to stop now. Sasuke will return and he will yearn for me only and not you. But maybe he'll give you a shot since I'm marrying the king of Suna. You're the slut, Sakura, you do anything any boy asks you to," Ino smirked. Sakura remembered that Ino always thinks she's smarter than others._

_"You're wrong Ino, you have to bust that oversized ego of yours seriously Ino everyone hates you for it!"_

_"I don't have a huge ego I'm very much grounded I've seen way more than you!"_

_"Well now I pity your husband. I can tell he will be a very miserable man who will probably have an early death thanks to all the stress you'll dump on him." Sakura said with finality and Ino stormed out of the room fuming._

And those were the last words ever exchanged between Ino and Sakura. The princess wasn't proud of some of the things she said, but deep down she always knew that fight gave her confidence and grounded her even more than she already unknowingly was. As she stared at her rival she couldn't help but, slightly connect with the leaves near his feet to see what he was doing. He looked deep in thought and the black shadows around his eyes were more emphasized than the pictures that were last received from the kingdom, right before Ino moved to Suna. The man looked like he had just escaped an attack. She noticed a fresh hickey and assumed it was probably a horny Ino trying to get her fix. As much as she hated the man, she couldn't help but feel for him a tiny bit. After all she used to be in his position and she knew of all the tongue biting and self control it took to put up with Ino. She knew all of her most fun moments were somehow tied to Ino, but the way she talked about her and others cancelled out all of them. This king was sure screwed, she thought as eyes returned to her original setting.

* * *

><p>Sabaku no Gaara, almighty king of Suna, leaned on the large balcony of his high tower. His future wife was killing him with her useless blabbering and constant "visits" with him. He cursed the nin who decided to teach her all the techniques of a ninja. This girl found him in places specially designed for only him to access. The fact that she kept on finding him was nothing to be proud of in his books. If only he knew what he was getting into when he exchanged all those letters with her, things would've been different. She easily charmed him with her gentle words and seemingly humble attitude, but when she arrived to Suna, Gaara witnessed her personality first hand, and it was not pleasant. He didn't even know how she could've concealed that big of an ego, even in writing. Then he noticed her penmanship and he found it was nothing like the writing in the letters. Even an expert concluded that they could in no way belong to the same person. So, Gaara spent the whole night feeling like a fool for being tricked so easily. The only thing that kept his hopes up was the fact that the girl that wrote those letters was still out there, probably still in Konoha, totally oblivious to what Ino did. He couldn't even figure out how Ino managed to do it her named had always been signed at the bottom and there was no mention of any outbursts towards Ino within the past month she was here. She never received any hateful messages; even though he doubted a person with that much grace and care could send hate mail. And now he was thinking about his could be soul mate. He immediately put up a brick wall.<p>

He would not give into his newfound weakness. He had made a promise to Ino and he would not go back on it, no matter how tempted he was. He had to stay sturdy with the new war with their sister city officially commencing tonight, he had to be the rock of his kingdom. The confused villagers would turn to him in their greif and he had to remain strong. Not some emotional mess searching the city of Kanoha for a girl he exchanged a few letters with. To distract him he started staring at one of those enormous banners of the princess Sakura of Kanoha. She was sure confidant, no emotional mess there. She probably had the perfect boyfriend, perfect friends and perfect family. He had to admit he stared at those banners of her far too often then he should. He was just so tempted... His train of thought ended when he saw the real princess lounging along the highest windowsill of her castle. The silky green kimono she wore was dangling down the side of the column beneath, it seemed very long since the overlap on her side had opened revealing her long legs and adding the extra length to the train. He was so immensely curious that he ended up taping into the sand on the opposite side of her.

And when he got a real view of her she looked even more flawless than on the posters. Her pink hair was let down and brushed over one shoulder. It was incredibly long when it wasn't done up in those gems and curled into luscious waves. Her hair was in fact longer than her back. It ran down her side and pooled in her lap beautifully. Her eyes were striking. Paired with her pink hair, her soft emerald eyes all but took his breath away. And he couldn't help but notice that she was in fact very sad. And he immediately regretted all the rampages him and his council had on how spoiled and ignorant she was. This girl had obviously been pulled through a lot and found a way to bounce back every time due to the fact that she was always poised and graceful when she represented her kingdom. She must care for her people deeply, he admitted to himself. But then he remembered the stories he had heard if this girl, most from Ino. Even though he didn't trust her, some of her stories matched those of his council with but, with more detail. All those stories described Sakura as a selfish young girl, who manipulated those around her to get just what she wanted. And she was very suspicious when it came to her physical appearance, Ino claimed that Sakura never had a day where she looked even the least bit ugly, even sick days, Ino said that was because she had a secret room for her hair dresser, stylist and makeup artist that were ready for her the moment she woke up. He thought that was a little extreme, but he never found anyone to prove her wrong so he believed it.

It was weird how the girl whose very name would make his stomach twist in hatred was so sweet looking. She reminded him of one that one girl incredibly popular girl who was adored by all her friends and her friends' friends, who was perfect and that any people who weren't already connected to her hated her or assumed she was a bitch. Then when they met her they were charmed by her genuine smile and openness with you. She was definitely an "it" girl. He smirked at how he used his sister's favourite term. But it was true even the people she's never even heard of talked of her as if they were lifelong friends. Temari, his sister was the perfect example of that, whenever they gathered to eat Temari would gush about the juicy bit of gossip about Sakura. He knew since he was the king people talked about him too, but it wasn't how they talked about Sakura. If you were to convert them into high school terms she was the girl, basically. She wasn't the cheerleader or the badass she was just the girl. She was the one that people would be jealous of and fawn over. Girls would secretly model themselves after her. And he was just the guy who's involved with those popular kids. Everyone knew his name and all the basic things about him, but they weren't interested in his life and they didn't bother spreading rumours about him.

He sighed, and came back to his own surroundings. He knew that this war between their two kingdoms was going to be very interesting. He saw something in her eyes and he knew she was going to do something interesting. Then again, Ino had told him that she almost never leaves her castle and the furthest away from her home she's been was when she traveled here with her parents to meet his father, before he died. He was still very young, but he remembered. Sakura couldn't have been more than four years old and he was seven. He remembered how shy she was and how once they met she'd clutch his hand tightly when they were stuck watching the arguments taking place between their parents. He remembered how surprised he was the first time she did that, but after he got used to it. He had to admit it was one of the worst and best weeks of his life. He had made his first friend, but that was the day the two kingdoms started the rivalry. And then once they're parents passed away, they left the pressure of that rivalry on their children. Sometimes he was so angry with his dad for doing that. He knew that his council would not back down now and he was forced to go through with it. So, now he just masked all that pain and feeling with a brick wall. It was all he knew and that was all he's ever done.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, honey," Ino hugged Gaara from behind.

"Hn," he grit his teeth. She had found him once again and when he really did not want to be found.

"How are you," she kissed his neck sensually.

"Fine," he said curtly as he broke out of her hold. He really did not want to see anyone, especially her. In the back of his mind he knew there was one person he wanted to see, but he would never admit it. And his brother and sister were busy with preparations for the war. He cursed his father for leaving this burden on the three of them.

"What's wrong?" Ino playfully pouted at him.

"Don't you have other things to do?" he snapped.

"No," she said innocently.

"Yes you do Ino," he furrowed his brow, he had made a list of things for her to do so that she would be busy the whole day, "go back to the main hall; you're in charge of decorations for our gala."

"But that's so boring," she whined, "why can't I stay with you." She grabbed his arm and buried her face in his shoulder. She could be very cute at times, but it wasn't enough to make up for her arrogant behaviour.

"Because, Ino, I have to focus on the war with Konoha," Gaara grumbled.

"Right," she said as if she had totally forgotten about it, "There's a war."

"Aren't you the least bit worried about your friends back there?" Gaara asked, he knew that she was very close with the princess herself.

"They're fine," she shrugged, "besides I have you."

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes, "what about the princess. I know you know how the council wants to take her as a prisoner."

"I know, and whatever's coming she deserves," Ino huffed.

"I for one don't want that to happen to her," Gaara muttered, "She's only fifteen."

"So," Ino said in frustration, "she's a horrible person even as a kid she was greedy and selfish."

"I knew her when she was a kid," Gaara stared Ino straight in the eye, "I remember she was gentle and loving. She had to stay strong from such a young age and I know exactly what that's like," except she turned into a beautiful, generous person while he was feared by his kingdom, he decided not to say the last part.

"You talk about her as if you've known her your whole life," Ino huffed, "I've known her my whole life. She isn't strong and she isn't a loving person. I could always beat her whenever we competed for anything and she didn't care about my problems. She didn't help me whenever I needed it."

"From what I've heard, you didn't help her either," Gaara said simply.

"Because all her problems were stupid!" she screamed and then took a deep breath, "look I'm not going to fight about this. I know you're obviously under a lot of stress and you want to seem like the good guy, caring about the princess, but you don't need to pretend around me."

"Yeah, thanks," he grumbled and disappeared in a gust of sand.

* * *

><p>Sakura sat in front of her stunning vanity brushing her annoyingly long hair. She had an hour to dress herself and get ready for the party. She never liked to have other people intruding in her room and painting her face and tying up her hair in unnecessary intricate styles and she definitely didn't like other people dressing her up like a doll. Her friends understood her frustration and the stylists were more than happy to leave her alone and take a break every time the royals needed to get dressed up.<p>

"I wonder if Naruto actually left some decent clothes for me," she said but didn't move from her spot at the mirror yet. Naruto had pulled some strings at a young age to make sure he was part of the team of stylists the council insisted Sakura had. He was her only true friend in Konoha. She loved her other friends, but no one really understood her like Naruto, well, except for Sasuke. She shook her head; she promised herself a long time ago it was pointless to think about Sasuke. Instead her mind wondered to the young king. She was scared of him, of what he would do to win. She remembered his father; he was a very angry man who had no patience for equal rights. But she shouldn't judge, after all her parents were no better. In fact the Gaara's father and her parents were the reason for the war. When they had passed away during a journey to another kingdom to discuss a "peace" treaty she had fought to stop the war and was often dragged away by ANBU. She had actually made a friend, Kakashi Hatake, he was often the one called to drag her away. But that nin had listened to her arguments and agreed with her. So, to help her get stronger, he started to teach her how to be a ninja. To this day he still gives her pointers, but he admitted she is at ANBU level and she no longer needs his mentoring. She also had a special place in her heart for Kakashi, but the two of them ever becoming more than friends was completely out of the question.

She focused back on her stubborn eyelashes that would not curl. She didn't use the gunk others used so it was harder for them to stay, but it was worth it. She gave up on the eyelashes and brushed rouge on her cheekbones. She picked up her ruby lipstick and stroked her lips expertly, then blotched making them a soft red colour. She finished with a light stroke of blue on her eyes. She clipped her hair up and walked over to her closet to see what Naruto left for her.

She found a closet full of form fitting, cleavage flashing, and leg showing dresses. At the sight of the wardrobe she chuckled, she expected nothing less of her best friend. After ten minutes of shuffling through dresses she finally found one she actually liked. It was bare shoulder, because the straps rested on her upper arms, form fitting silk dress. The only thing that held the dress up was her bust and that scared her until she found out how tight it was in that area. The silk hugged her body and then slit all the way up the side of her left leg and she thanked herself for remembering to wax that morning. The dress was a light green colour that slightly matched her eyes. She had to admit she looked good. She had worked for years to get from her old chubby body to the long slender figure she had now. She didn't hate being a bit chubby; she made a very cute kid. But around the age of nine she realized she couldn't pull off the baby fat look anymore. So, she went to her own personal gym and used the good old fashioned "buy a pair of jeans you want to fit into" technique, and before she knew it she was feeling better than ever.

One last look at the mirror and she was out of her room and was met by Naruto.

"Sakura!" Naruto called to his royal friend and gave her a huge hug. Sakura couldn't help but laugh as she pried him off of her.

"Hey, Naruto," she flashed a genuine smile at him. That was another thing she always strived on being, genuine. She hated seeing the other princesses or duchesses or even some ladies in waiting, Ino, who posed in front of the cameras and portraits. She once saw Ino and a few other girls stay in the same pose for ten minutes waiting for the royal photographer to notice them. She ended up rushing into them at the last minute, ruining the shot.

"This is going to be the best!" Naruto exclaimed as they walked down the abandoned corridor with his hands casually resting behind his head.

"How?" Sakura asked, "It's just any other party, plus it's promoting a war."

"True," Naruto agreed, "but it's our first party since Ino-pig left."

"Wow you're right," Sakura smiled, but a part of her tug at her heart strings because she knew Ino would be snuggling up to the very man she knew she had something with. She knew it sounded pathetic since she was pretty sure they never met, at least she had no memory of it. But she knew there was this thing she had with him. She was the only person she could "spy" on with her leaves. It wasn't like she was only able to connect with the leaves around him, but when she did it with other people or places on her mind she never got a clear image she could just sense it. She could only truly see the surroundings when she was focussed on him. At that thought, she couldn't help but crack a grin; it made her sound like an obsessed school girl.

"Hello, Sakura," Naruto was obnoxiously waving his hand in front of her face.

"What," she squeaked like a baby. Her eyes quickly widened and she frantically slapped her hand over her own mouth.

"Awwe Sakura you're so cute!" Naruto squeezed her tight.

"Shut up," she grumbled childishly. This must seem repetitive with all the things she hated about herself and others, but here's another one: she hated how child like she could get. She didn't go around flaunting every little thing she hated to everyone like some prissy little spoiled brat. In fact nobody knows about half the things she strives to do or goes out of her way to not do. But enough about that it was time to party.

"Sasa, do that adorable face again," Naruto gushed. Sakura rolled her eyes and looked up in what she called her "grumpy" face, but Naruto thought it was a cute face. One glance from those huge green orbs he was gushing all over again.

"Oh my god, Naruto, come on," she cracked a smile as she dragged him over to the huge double doors. Naruto jumped up and smoothed down his suit before offering his arm to Sakura.

"Come on sis," he said as she took his arm, "They need the princess to arrive sometime."

"Yeah, now if only you were my real brother, then it could make this stuff bearable," she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, we can always pretend," Naruto smiled down at her.

"Right," she huffed and stood up straight, "let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>"Gaara, sweetie," Ino called as she skipped into his room. He took one look at her and thought she looked completely wrong doing that. As much as she tried, she could not pull off the "innocent live in the moment child" that she was obviously going for. It just didn't work for her and someone should really tell her, but it wasn't his problem.<p>

"What," he grumbled.

"Come on let's go!" she tugged on his arm but he didn't move an inch, "I know you want to be fashionably late and all, but don't you think all eyes should be on the lady." Gaara rolled his eyes; she meant herself.

"Oh yes of course," he nodded and without a second's hesitation he left the room closing the door behind him, leaving a frustrated Ino.

"Wow!" Ino glared at the door, "how could he turn this down!" she punched the mattress she was sitting on. She never had that much trouble with the other boys she dated. She would throw herself at them and they would love it; that was how it was done. She didn't know why ignorant girls like Sakura thought that you should let him come to you, because they don't. They never came to her so they couldn't have come to other girls with no demands or cleavage flashing first. Girls would fawn over the boys shamelessly; that's how it worked.

Ino strut over to her fiancé's desk and opened a seemingly empty drawer. She had learnt Gaara's sister had a secret compartment in that drawer. She had some stupid idea that when he was ready he would find it with its belongings inside. She was surprised he hadn't figured it out earlier, after all one had to simply get a few drinks into the girls and all the secrets came slipping out. Ino smirked as she opened the secret compartment and looked at the photos inside. There were only a few photos and they were from Gaara's childhood. The first was one with the three siblings; Gaara couldn't be more than four years old then. The second one was of his dad and Sakura's parents. The third was the sand siblings and Sakura, Gaara looked around seven or eight, and Sakura was four. The fourth was both the families looking happy, but there was obvious tension in the adults' eyes. The last angered Ino the most. It was obviously taken by a professional, and as much as she wished it was posed she knew deep down it wasn't. It was Sakura and Gaara as children. Seven year old Gaara was holding four year old Sakura's hand and the boy's hand nearest to the camera was holding a small daisy to the young, tear eyed girl. It was beautiful. That was the only thing keeping her from tearing the picture into shreds.

* * *

><p>"Gaara!" the small pinkette cried as she ran out of the grand hall where the adults were screaming and into the court yard.<p>

"Sakura?" Gaara looked up from the small pool he was staring at only to have the small girl to rush into his arms. He smiled gently and stroked her head.

"They wouldn't stop shouting, Gaara, it was so scary," she squeezed her eyes tight, trying to prevent the tears from falling. Gaara gently pulled her off of him and took her hand in his.

"I want you to remember something," he said as he picked a daisy, "No matter what happens I will always be there for you to run to whenever or wherever, you can count on me."

Sakura still squeezed her eyes shut and looked down, but Gaara stood there with a gentle smile holding the daisy in front of her patiently. He swore he heard a small clicking noise, but ignored it.

"Promise," she looked up at him.

"Promise," his smiled widened as she accepted the daisy and set it in her hair.


End file.
